


Fixer-Uppers

by poetroe



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Cold War, F/F, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 16:31:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14359287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetroe/pseuds/poetroe
Summary: Collection of avalance oneshots, fixing time and doing other stuff.First chapter: the Venona Project. Sara, Ava and the rest of the team go to 1946 to make sure the Cold War ends in 1989, rather than 2005, when their mission is derailed.





	Fixer-Uppers

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, so this is going to be a series of avalance one shots where they just do their thing & fix time with the team, in no particular order. I love their chemistry and I’m highkey sad we’re going to have to wait to see more of it, so that’s why I’m writing it myself !! I already have a couple ideas planned for chapters but be sure to drop whatever you’d like to see in the comments (like time periods or historical figures). Also please let me know whether any of the characters seem OOC or could use improvement. I’m very new to writing LoT. Thanks for reading!

When Mallus is defeated, things go back to normal. Not that Sara has ever felt any sense of normalcy on the Waverider for all the years she’s been on the ship; at times, it seems like even the easiest time aberrations have it out for them. Somehow, they always manage to turn into exhausting, drawn-out missions. Well, at least there’s no end-of-the-world scenario hanging above their heads anymore, which is probably as normal as it gets, Sara wonders.

She enters the bridge still feeling a little groggy, though there is never a way to tell exactly how early in the morning it is. Through the windows, she can see the perpetual storm that characterizes the Temporal Zone raging on. Most of the team is already there: Amaya and Zari are hanging around the central control while Nate and Ray are hunched over a book in the captain’s office. If she were to guess, Sara would say that Wally is probably still in the galley, eating his 3000 calorie breakfast, with Mick either by his side or still asleep.

“Hey guys,” Sara says. “Gideon, what are we doing today? Ancient Egypt, maybe, or a visit to the Mayans? I’ve always wanted to ask them about that calendar of theirs.”

“Unfortunately not, captain,” the AI answers. “It seems there are multiple aberrations that need to be fixed. Any calendar-related trips might have to wait.”

“Alright, alright, duty calls.” Sara shrugs. “So, where’s the rest of my team?”

“Mr. Rory and Mr. West are still in the galley it seems, captain,” Gideon says, and Sara smirks at how predictable her team is. “Should I instruct them to join us on the bridge?”

“Please and thank you, Gideon,” Sara answers. “Now— what are we dealing with today?”

“It seems a couple of new time aberrations have popped up recently,” Amaya says.

“Yeah,” Zari adds, while Nate and Ray join them at the console, “and it’s serious. Look at this newspaper clipping.” The hologram display flickers on and shows the front page of the New York Times, August 12, 2005.

“’Cold War finally ends’? That can’t be right,” Nate remarks. “It should’ve ended sixteen years earlier, with the fall of the Berlin Wall.”

“Not in this version of history, I’m afraid,” Gideon says. “The root of the problem seems to lie in the Venona Project. It served to—”

“—decrypt Soviet messages, yeah we know, Gideon,” Nate rolls his eyes and chuckles. “This AI, am I right?”

“Actually, I didn’t know that,” Amaya remarks. “But from what you’ve told me about the Cold War, Nathaniel, I don’t see how one project could have had so much influence on the war. Wasn’t it mainly an arms race, with no fighting at all involved?”

“Well,” Nate starts, just as Wally and Mick arrive at the central control, Wally still munching on his sandwich. “Though it’s true that there was no fighting in any ‘official’ capacity,” he says, loosely air quoting around the word official, “there was a huge amount of espionage from both sides. And spies ran the risk of being captured or killed pretty much constantly.”

“Wait, are we going to be spies?” Wally asks enthusiastically, before taking another bite. Sara notices the glimmer in his eyes and smiles.

“I hate spies,” Mick grumbles. “Secretive bastards don’t even kill in the open. Makes me want to burn something.”

“We might not have to have to be spies,” Ray says quickly. “We don’t even know what the problem is yet. You were saying, Gideon?”

“Thank you, Dr. Palmer,” the AI continues. “It seems that, due to the Venona Project’s failure of decrypting Soviet messages, Soviet espionage of the Manhattan Project went undiscovered, as well as other sensitive information that was discovered in the original sequence of events. The culmination of these failures seems to have enabled the Soviets to produce nuclear weapons at a much faster rate, and led the Cold War to continue until 2005.”

“Yikes,” Sara says, leaning on the console with both hands. “That doesn’t sound good. How do we fix this, Gideon?”

“It seems the aberration originates in Arlington, Virginia, December 20, 1946,” Gideon explains. “That is the day that codebreaker Meredith Gardner was supposed to crack the Soviet code. However, something interfered with her doing so.”

“Right, well, let’s fix this before it sets, guys,” Sara says, looking over her team with crossed arms. “And get your heat gun, Mick. We might have to warm this Cold War up a bit.”

“Nice one, captain,” Zari deadpanned. “But, uh, we were wondering if—” Zari is interrupted by an elbow in the side, courtesy of Wally, who proceeds to give her a look. Honestly, the way these people could act like children amazed Sara sometimes. She raises an eyebrow and continues watching the exchange.

“Nothing! We were wondering about absolutely nothing,” Wally says quickly.

“Shut up, speedster,” Zari says as she rolls her eyes. “We were actually wondering about if you’re going to ask Ava to come?”

Sara’s eyes widen and a slow smile emerges on her face. “You know what, that’s actually not a bad idea. Especially considering how bad our first date went.” She grins at the embarrassed looks on her teammates’ faces. “Alright, I’m going to call her, you guys make sure you’re ready to go, okay?” Amaya gives her a knowing smile while Nate and Wally mock-salute, before following the others to the fabrication room. Sara sighs as she pushes a few buttons on the console. For no reason at all, nerves settle uncomfortably in her stomach as the screen pops up. Sure, she had laid all her cards on the table and it had felt like a relief, but Sara is still uncertain about the extent of Ava’s feeling for her. She doesn’t want to assume anything, but—

Before Sara can continue that train of thought, the Time Agent in question appears on the screen.

“Ms. Lance.”

“Agent Sharpe.” It seems they’re falling right back into their familiar patterns. Sara grins.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Ava asks. It delights Sara to see that her hair is loose from its usual bun, tumbling carefree over Ava’s shoulders, instead.

“I thought I’d invite you to our second date,” Sara says with a self-assured smile. “How does Soviet codebreaking sound?” An intrigued look crosses Ava’s face before she notices and her expression changes back into a professional one.

“Like it could be fun… And dangerous. Are you sure the Legends are up for covert espionage?” Ava grins. “And by that I mean the ‘covert’ part, of course.” Sara rolls her eyes exasperatedly and crosses her arms while she leans back against the console.

“Oh honey, we’re going to do covert espionage like you’ve never seen,” Sara retorts with a confident smirk.

***

Ava should have known it was going to end up like this. By ‘this’, she means being surrounded by a group of eight KGB agents, aiming their guns at their group. It’s herself, Sara, Nate, Zari and Mick, with Wally, Ray and Amaya off somewhere else, hopefully keeping Meredith Gardner and the other codebreaker women safe from this Soviet invasion.

How had it come to this? Simple. No matter how sexy Sara made the words ‘covert espionage’ sound, Ava really should have remembered that flying under the radar had never been something the Legends exceled at. Their motto was ‘screwing things up for the better’ after all; something, it seemed, they never would let her forget. The mission had actually seemed pretty simple as it was outlined by Sara: they would enter Arlington Hall while undercover as associates with the United States government, supposedly reporting on the progress of the Venona Project. While Zari, Mick and Ray would search inside from the safety of their cover, Ava, Sara and the rest of the team would sneak around to try and uncover the threat to history from the outside. It was a good plan, which utilized the team’s individual powers to the best of their extent. Zari and Ray had experience with code and had Mick for backup; Wally and Amaya could use their powers to climb to the roof while remaining unseen; and Sara, Ava and Nate would sneak around the back, through the garden.

Naturally, things did not happen according to the plan. Instead of having to look for the aberration inside Arlington Hall, Ava, Sara and Nate had come across it purely by accident. It had been hard not to, seeing as the aberration in question was a group of ten KGB agents, who had been about to enter the building from the back. Just when they were about to engage them in a fight, Zari and Mick burst through the back doors of the building. Ava, Sara and Nate hadn’t hesitated to join the fight, but after only two Soviets were down, the rest of them had pulled their guns, causing their current predicament.

“So, tell me,” Sara said, holding her arms up and flaunting a dauntless smirk, as per usual. “Which one of you white Russians would enjoy getting his ass kicked last?”

“Shut up!” one of the agents yelled. “And don’t move!”

“Keep your hands in the air!” yelled another.

“I’m just offering,” Sara continued, “I mean, you’re all going to get beat by a girl. Doesn’t the one who’s beat last hold on to a little shred of pride, compared to the others? Then again, I don’t know how these things work in Russia.” Ava eyes the Soviets warily. Though bravado is usually something that works in Sara’s favor (Ava should know), it doesn’t look like it’s doing anything to help them, now.

“Sara, I swear to God, you’re going to get yourself shot if you keep this up,” Ava murmurs.

“Don’t worry babe,” Sara says, smiling warmly at her, “I’ve got a plan. Mick!” Before Ava can blink, Mick has kicked Sara’s legs out from under her, causing her to fall face-first on the grass. Zari has gotten the message as well and blasts the KGB agents with a gust of wind, knocking a few over and buying them some time. In the grass, Sara has found a gun. She’s shooting at the Soviets with a vengeance when she grabs Ava’s hand, and pulls her towards where they left the Waverider. Sara is yelling in the coms, ordering the team to regroup immediately. Ava looks around to see Zari running ahead of them, Mick to their right, unleashing a fiery hell on the garden and Nate at their rear, steeling up and providing them with a cover from the bullets that are raining down on them.

They’re almost at the Waverider, hatch already opened by Zari, when Sara suddenly screams and crashes to the ground. She’s still holding Ava’s hand and Ava stops dead in her tracks.

“Fuck,” Sara says through gritted teeth. “Those bastards shot me.” A few tears appear in her eyes in reaction to what must be blinding pain, and Ava panics momentarily at seeing Sara hurt, before her training kicks in.

“Where?” she asks, while lifting one of Sara’s arms over her shoulders and gripping her by the waist. Not waiting for an answer, Ava walks towards the Waverider, as fast as she can with Sara stumbling at her side.

“My left thigh.” Sara throws her head back, eyes squeezed shut in pain. “Fuck, that hurts. That hurts so fucking much. Oh my God. Ava, are we there yet?”

“Yes. Almost. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe,” Ava says, despite not being entirely sure that they were going to make it out alive, this time. “Hey Steel, please tell me you have a first aid kit in the cargo bay,” she yells over her shoulder to Nate.

“Yes! Yes we should have one there. Hold on,” he answers. They’ve finally arrived at the cargo bay hatch and Ava lifts Sara inside with only a little bit of trouble, while there are still numerous bullets bouncing off of both Nate and the Waverider.

After Sara and Ava are safely inside, Nate jumps in and Zari closes the hatch. Ava is pressing down forcefully on where a dark red stain is growing in Sara’s pants, and tries not to think too much about entry and exit wounds or blood loss or hit arteries or shrapnel from the bullet. When she looks at Sara’s face, she sees that it’s sweaty and some flyaway hairs are sticking to Sara’s forehead. Her eyes are barely open, which makes Ava panic even more.

“Stay with me, Sara,” she says. “Look at me. Please.” Sara’s eyes open and the cerulean blue hits Ava like it has done countless times before, only now she silently chastises herself because Sara is shot and she shouldn’t let herself be distracted from that.

“First aid kit, first aid kit, where is it, God, why can I never find anything on this ship, Gideon, please help me, oh my God.” Nate is softly rambling from somewhere behind Ava, where he is going through all kinds of boxes, trying to find the first aid kit.

“I just need a tourniquet, and quickly please!” Ava yells. Her hands are red all over and the metallic smell of blood is all around them. Sara covers her hands where they are pressing down on her leg with one of her own.

“I’m going to be fine,” she says. “I’ve got you, don’t I?”

At the same time, Gideon says: “The first aid kit is to your right, attached to the wall, Dr. Heywood.”

Ava is momentarily stunned and the only thing she’s able to do is look into Sara’s eyes, her mouth opened slightly. She breaks out of it when Nate all but presses the kit into her bloodied hands.

“Alright,” she says, fingers fumbling with the clasp. “Okay— Jesus!”

“What?” Nate asks worriedly. “What’s wrong— oh. Ew, that’s gross.” Ava feels her heart drop into her stomach as she looks into the first aid kit, which is filled to the brim with Cheetos. Cheetos that are now, thanks to her red hands, covered in Sara’s blood. No time to dwell on that though, because Sara is still bleeding out. With a swift movement, Ava does what she probably should have done much earlier and slides her belt out of the beltloops. She resolutely binds it around Sara’s leg, above the wound, and pulls it tight. Sara groans in pain. Then Zari is there with Mick, and together they carefully carry Sara to the Medical Bay, where the rest of the team is waiting anxiously.

“Goddamn it, Lance,” Ava says when Sara is finally up on the chair, being scanned and treated immediately by Gideon. “Why, on God’s green earth, would you ever fill a first aid kit with Cheetos?!”

“I don’t know, I thought it would be funny at the time,” Sara says, her face still distorted with pain. She tries to smile as if to back up her point, but through the pain, it just comes off as a tortured smirk. “Isn’t it funny?”

“No! It’s like you _want_ to die!”

“Not even a little bit funny?”

Ava signs and rubs her forehead in defeat. “Sara, I swear to God, if you weren’t severely injured right now I would slap you.”

“I could probably be into that,” Sara answers with a self-satisfying smirk. Ava rolls her eyes.

“Sounds like we should give you guys some privacy,” Wally remarks with a smile, before he pushes the rest of the team out the door. Though them all being there shows how much they care for their captain, Ava has to agree with Wally; less people at a time might be better for Sara, considering the state she’s in.

“Are you really mad?” Sara asks from the chair. Ava turns around and goes to sit on the edge.

“Of course I’m mad. Who fills a first aid kit with Cheetos?” Ava says. Sara throws her head back and rolls her eyes, before grabbing Ava’s hand in her own.

“Come on, Aves,” she answers, beginning to slightly slur her words. “Can’t we move beyond this already? It feels like all we do is fight over first aid Cheetos. Man, I could really go for some Cheetos right now. Do you think there are any left without blood on them?” Must be the pain medication already kicking in, Ava wonders.

Despite everything that has just happened and the adrenaline and fear that still haven’t completely left her body, the sight of Sara going back to her usual, ridiculous banter is something that makes Ava smile. “No, I don’t think so,” she says softly, before moving close and giving Sara a soft kiss on her forehead.

“That sucks,” Sara says. Her words stand in a stark contrast to the wide smile that adorns her face. Without hesitation, she moves forward and kisses Ava on the lips. “I love you,” she whispers when they break apart. Ava is feeling all sorts of things and though she’s not generally good at discerning emotions, she has become familiar with this one.

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> (so the thing with the cheetos was inspired by a tumblr post which I thought really fitted Sara. Also, I am aware that the mission was never actually resolved but this got a bit too long. But who knows, I might write a pt. 2 someday)
> 
> Next chapter will feature Genghis Khan, stay tuned!


End file.
